Since its inception in 1995, the Java programming language has become increasingly popular. Java, which is an interpreted language, enabled the creation of applications which could be run on a wide variety of platforms. This ability to function across a variety of different client platforms and Java's relatively easy implementation of network applications has resulted in its use in endeavors as basic as personal webpages to endeavors as complex as large business-to-business enterprise systems.
As Java has become more commonplace, a wide variety of tools and development platforms have been created to assist developers in the creation and implementation of Java applications and portals, which provide a way to aggregate content and integrate applications, allowing a visitor to a Web site to access the content and applications via a user interface. Particularly, a number of products have arisen to assist in the design of customized web portals that provide tools for managing the portals and previously generated content that can be included in the portals. These products provide graphics, content, sample portlets (applications that run within a portal), and tools for interacting with and modifying the same. One such product is WebLogic Portal by BEA Systems.
One of the most significant features for any portal or group of portals is the ability to be easily modified and configured. While many portal-oriented products include packaged administrative tools, developers and administrators of portals often desire to use their own custom tools. However, doing so involves the replication of many layers of additional code for modifying and administering portals.
What is needed is a means for enabling the easy creation of portal administrative tools.